Restaurant Owner, Consultant To Face Off In May Primary

Two Republicans - business consultant Jim Clark and restaurant owner Curtis Ellis - will compete in the May 28 primary election for the chance to face off against Rep. Marv Vandenberg, D-Coeur d’Alene.

Clark, 52, owns A to Z Consultants. He holds two master’s degrees and teaches management at Eastern Washington University.

“As an economic conservative I believe strongly in the free enterprise system, individualism, property rights, limited government, and competition,” he says in a statement on his Internet home page.

Clark unsuccessfully ran for a Legislative seat in the 1994 primary election.

He served in the U.S. Army for 21 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He is legislative committee chairman for the Retired Officers Association. He is married to Vickie Parker-Clark and has three children and three grandchildren.

Ellis, 33, owns a small deli/restaurant called Idaho Ruby’s. He is on the board of North Idaho Youth for Christ, and is vice president of the Downtown Business Association.

Ellis wants state government to run more like a business, he said Friday. His areas of interest include protection of individual and property rights, reduction of government regulation, and revamping the juvenile justice system.

“Tax reform is close to my heart, being a small businessman,” he said.

Ellis and his wife, Kris, have two children. He has been active in party politics since campaigning for President Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign. He was a coordinator for the 1994 campaign of Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Coeur d’Alene.

, DataTimes